Andrei Faraon - Controlling Light on a Chip at the Single-Photon Level

Integrated electronic and optical circuits have revolutionized the way we process and transmit information, with profound economic and social impact. These technologies have progressed to such an extent that researchers currently develop integrated chips in which light is guided via optical wires, and individual atoms can control the flow of light at the quantum level. Besides increasing the performance of current optical communication technologies, these chips have the potential to be used in advanced devices, such as ones that would generate cryptographic keys for secure Internet connections, or quantum computers that can speed up exceedingly complex computational problems, such as those used in discovering new drugs.

Faraon's presentation will give an overview of how this unprecedented control of photons is achieved and cover future challenges and applications.

Andrei Faraon is assistant professor of applied physics and materials science at Caltech.